June is Black Music Month (BMM) and it’s not only a time to pay homage to Black music pioneers, but to recognize those who are still paving the way and carrying the torch of creativity.
Created by Grammy Award-winning songwriter-producer and Black Music Association co-founder Kenny Gamble, the initiative, which was to highlight Black artists’ many contributions to American society and history, was cemented as a monthlong celebration by late President Jimmy Carter in 1979.
But for Gamble, and those who worked closely with him, including music industry vets Ed Wright and ex-wife and BMM co-founder Dyana Williams, the recognition of artists in June also had an economically-charged goal: to highlight and advocate for musicians who created and defined Black music and culture, but did not always reap the benefits of it.
“Initially, Black Music Month started as an economic program more than anything else,” Gamble told Billboard in a 2015 interview with Williams. “The CMA had worked to establish October as Country Music Month, so we picked June as a time where we could concentrate on recognizing and celebrating the economic and cultural power of Black music and those who made and promoted it.”
He continued, “The slogan we came up with was, ‘Black Music Is Green’ — it was about economics. So, in an effort to galvanize, as well as create an advocacy entity, Black Music Month was born.
Now, forty-five years later, the purpose of the month still holds true and TODAY.com is helping to shine a light on some of the new and rising artists that are breaking the mold with their music.
While certain faces may be familiar to some and new to others, they all share two things in common: they are inspired by the greats, and they also have a style that is wholly their own.
Read on to learn about some of the game-changing artists from every genre that are worth listening to this Black Music Month.
Country
Britti
What do you get when you mix the plucky spirit of down South Americana with the old soul yearning of Motown and the whisper-soft melodies of early 2000s soul-pop? You get Britti.
Introduced to the world by way of her recent March 2024 debut “Hello, I’m Britti,” the New Orleans-born songstress’ first project carves out a distinctive lane.
Britti is brand new to the scene and her sound is like no other — delicate with an ethereal, otherworldly quality to it, but with the world-weary, seen-it-all rasp of someone who’s been here before.
That sonic balance of new and old, strange yet familiar, comes from Britti’s deep connection to the music of the ages, particularly to the Black artists whose work defined our culture and our history.
A generational healing project of sorts, “Hello, I’m Britti,” follows Britti’s personal transformation — from poignant lamentations on the hardship of life (“So Tired”) to a hypnotizing Sade-inspired love song (“Nothing Compares to You”). The singer also pulls inspiration from the vaults of trailblazers like Otis Redding, Donna Summers, and Ray Charles to tell the story of her journey back to herself.
“Part of the healing work I did for this album was of generational trauma, of the trials my ancestors had to go through,” Britti tells TODAY.com of her album’s deeply communal intentions. “I wanted to examine what it means to be Black in America and to look at how we have progressed over time, but also to find peace in those things that they unfortunately couldn’t afford to find peace in.”
Shaboozey
As if you needed another reason to thank Beyoncé for her many contributions to music, we can tip our bedazzled cowboy hats to her once more for putting us on to Shaboozey.
The Nigerian-American country phenom is featured twice on “Cowboy Carter,” making notable appearances on “SPAGHETTII” and “SWEET HONEY BUCKIIN.”
Shaboozey’s latest offering “Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going,” which features the viral TikTok hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” positions him as a true-blue country artist with each song firmly entrenched in some of the genre’s most notable traditions: drinking whiskey, falling in (and out of) love, and living wild and free.
The singer’s spin on country music includes infusing elements from his hometown of Fairfax, Virginia in songs like “Drink Don’t Need No Mix,” and adding his brand of hip-hop swagger.
Shaboozey is a welcomed disrupter to the country music genre — and a reminder that Blackness has always been part of the yeehaw agenda.
Don Louis
Remember when Nelly jumped in the studio with Tim McGraw for the 2004 sleeper hit “Over and Over,” blowing our minds and stealing our hearts? Well, newbie country star Don Louis sounds exactly like that.
The singer, who was raised on an East Texas farm, initially planned to pursue a career as a traditional R&B and hip-hop artist, but his roots inevitably pulled him back to the sounds he grew up with down South.
Louis made his debut in 2023 with “Neon You,” and the sultry fusion of country-meets-R&B quickly marked him as a country upstart to pay attention to.
Since he stepped into the mainstream last year, Louis has won over the hearts of country music fans; his music already has more than 36 million streams across platforms, and his TikTok page has garnered more than 3.4 million likes.
Tanner Adell
Equal parts beauty queen and ‘round the way girl, Tanner Adell is taking the country music genre by storm — and looking damn good while doing it.
The Kentucky native fell head over heels in love with country music as a teenager after discovering Keith Urban’s song, “Somebody Like You,” from the “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” soundtrack.
“I remember learning all of the words to that song, and I became a huge Keith Urban fan and being like this is what country music is,” Adell told BET.com. “I was unknowingly loving country music.”
Adell, who describes herself as “glam country,” embraces a feminine, flirty style when it comes her music, which is a blend of country and pop melodies.
Her secret sauce for viral hits like “Buckle Bunny” and “Strawberry Crush’’? Adell tells TODAY.com that part of it has to do with her love for Beyoncé.
“I feel like [Beyoncé’s] music raised me, and I’ve watched her through her eras and watched her creativity,” gushed Adell. “I have loved her for so long.”
As fate would have it, Adell’s music eventually caught Beyoncé’s eye and the 27-year-old found herself on the “Cowboy Carter” cover of Paul McCartney’s “Blackbird,” alongside the 32-time Grammy winner and fellow country music up-and-comers Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy, and Reyna Roberts.
Rock
Willow
You may know her as Will and Jada’s baby, but Willow Smith is well on her way to becoming her own household name.
She’s been making music since she was just 10 years old — “Whip My Hair” is a forever classic — and her sound has only evolved through the years.
Willow has found success in a number of music lanes, including neo-soul (“Ardipithecus”) and more recently, jazz (“Empathogen”), but some of her most standout music moments have been rooted in rock.
In 2021, her song “Meet Me At Our Spot,” took over TikTok and quickly becoming the soundtrack of the summer. Not long after, “Transparentsoul,” a chaotic single backed by the shredding of electric guitars and the frantic clash of cymbals and drums (courtesy of a feature from Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker), unleashed a wave of nostalgia for the rock songs of the past and rocketed into the Billboard Hot 100.
Taking notes from the discographies of singers like Alanis Morissette and Avril Lavigne, Willow’s projects like “The Anxiety” (a collaboration with Tyler Cole) and “Lately I Feel Everything” have helped her become one of the recognizable faces in the latest wave of the pop-rock revival.
Ayron Jones
Ayron Jones says wants to be this generation’s “guitar guy,” and if his Jimi Hendrix-esque skills on the electric guitar are any indication, he’s well on his way.
The Seattle native’s playing draws inspiration from the flashy, cocky style of Lenny Kravitz and Prince and the Revolution, blending aspects of traditional hard rock with the storytelling of blues and high energy of hip-hop to create his own subgenre: urban rock.
Since his debut under Big Machine Records in 2020, Jones has released two studio albums, the first of which (“Child of the State”) earned him No. 1 spot on the Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart and placed him in an exclusive group of Black rock artists to achieve that feat.
Meet Me @ the Altar
Fans of pop-rock staples Paramore and Panic! At the Disco are likely to fall in love with pop-punk band Meet Me @ the Altar, a trio featuring lead singer Edith Johnson, guitarist Téa Campbell, and drummer Ada Juarez.
Meet Me @ the Altar’s discography is the epitome of pop-punk, reminiscent of the catchy teenage angst anthems that were the soundtrack to some of our favorite 90s and early 2000s films like “Freaky Friday.”
Not coincidentally, the group covered one of that film’s songs, “Take Me Away” in Aug. 2023. But long before that, they’ve been determined to pave a path for themselves and other Black and brown rockstars coming up behind them.
“When the band first formed in 2015…we were extremely rare because we didn’t see anyone like us in the scene that looked like us. We had conversations about it like we were aware of it from the start,” the band told Teen Vogue. “We were like, ‘Okay. We are basically one of a kind.’ We represent so many different types of people, so naturally, we’re going to be role models.”
Hip-hop
Domani
If you love hip-hop but need some respite from never-ending rap beef, Domani should be on your playlist this Black Music Month.
While the indie rapper was born into hip-hop royalty by way of his father, Atlanta superstar T.I., Domani’s music couldn’t be more different from his dad’s and the trap music city in which he grew up.
The 23-year-old’s discography takes a page out of J. Cole and Wale’s conscious rap playbook, offering moments of thoughtful reflection.
Songs like “Henny and Crystals” and “Forever Lasting” show Domani as an emotional lyricist, treating lo-fi R&B instrumentals like the pages of his own personal diary.
Baby Tate
When you think of the word “range,” Baby Tate should be one of the first artists that to come to mind.
The 28-year-old can do it all: rap, sing (like, really sing), dance, act, and in “Baby Tate Presents — Sexploration: The Musical,” the multi-hyphenate reminds the world that she’s not one to be overlooked.
Comparable to the sonic descendant of rap phenoms like Nicki Minaj and Gucci Mane, Baby Tate’s take on rap music is intentionally whimsical. She doesn’t take herself too seriously when it comes to the genre, but even when she’s waxing poetic on her own special brand of pettiness (“Pedi”) or reveling in the many perks of pansexuality (“Luv Everybody“), the power of her pen can’t be denied.
Baby Tate’s innate musicality, likely inherited from her mother Dionne Farris (Arrested Development), allows her to make easy work of any genre.
“Since I started putting music out, I’ve been putting out projects full of songs that don’t sound the same,” Baby Tate told Refinery29 of her affinity for genre-hopping. “I’m inspired by a lot of different genres because I grew up listening to a variety of music and artists, so I never wanted to box myself into a particular sound or a particular genre, or even a particular way of using my voice or like, say, singing versus rapping.”
Flyana Boss
TikTok has given us many gifts, and viral rap duo Flyana Boss might be the one that hip-hop lovers are most thankful for.
Born Bobbi LaNea Taylor and Folayan Omi Kunerede, the two halves of this delightful hip-hop group have been seen in elf ear prosthetics and neon-bright braids sprinting full speed down the street (and pretty much everywhere else) singing, “Hello, Christ? I’m ‘bout to sin again!”
“We’re a little awkward; we like the little quirky stuff,” the duo explained to Texas Monthly in March of the unique style they bring to the genre. “We’re just being ourselves. Whatever we think is cool or interesting to us, we’re going to do that.”
Clearly, the pair is all about having fun with their music and it’s to no surprise that their creativity caught the eye of rap’s OG oddball herself, Missy Elliott.
In 2023, Flyana Boss scored a cosign and a feature from the “Get Ur Freak On” rapper on a remix of their breakthrough single “U Wish,” which also featured Kaliii. And earlier this year, they opened for Janelle Monae on her “The Age of Pleasure” Tour before launching their own, The Bosstanical Garden Tour.
R&B
Muni Long
After a full decade of writing bonafide hits for megastars like Rihanna, Mariah Carey, and Ariana Grande under the moniker of Priscilla Renea, Muni Long has finally made her way to center stage.
The singer-songwriter’s first global hit, “Hrs & Hrs,” took the internet by storm in late 2021 and even won that year’s Grammy for best R&B performance, proving that Long had both the writing chops and the star power to take over the airwaves as a performer.
Follow-up songs like “Time Machine” and this year’s viral ballad “Made for Me” flaunt Long’s signature R&B style and demonstrate that social media success can equal strong streaming numbers, even if being TikTok famous wasn’t on Long’s bingo card.
“I definitely don’t write songs for TikTok. I don’t really know how to do that,” the singer told The Cut. “I just make songs I enjoy and I think about how I can use them in that space…it’s just all about flow and synergy. I don’t do anything that’s not in alignment.”
RAYE
The dark R&B-pop wave is a particularly niche one, marked by moody, ambient vibes that explore the darker sides of love, sex, and mental health. And British singer-songwriter RAYE is at the forefront of this melancholy movement.
Winning fans over fans with her debut album “My 21st Century Blues,” and the song “Escapism” — a gritty, dystopian diary entry about her personal battle with substance abuse — it didn’t take long before her music went number one in the U.K. and charted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
RAYE’s first studio album, which helped to lay the dark R&B foundation, also built on other distinctive sounds that have become synonymous with the singer, like electronic dance (“Black Mascara”) and gospel (“Buss It Down”).
“A lot of this album was created with fragments of my past, still within a place of restriction,” RAYE told Vogue UK of the inspiration behind the critically-acclaimed project. “I’m so grateful that I’ve found my way out of a system that wasn’t for me. Now that I can create what I want, I feel so free. I have so many stories I want to tell.”
One of those stories, at least from some fans perspective, will be RAYE’s success at the 2024 BRIT Awards, where she made history by sweeping six of out the seven categories she was nominated in — the most wins anyone’s ever had in one night at the star-studded musical event.
Josh Levi
Whoever said that men in R&B aren’t crying and singing in the rain anymore must not have heard of Josh Levi.
Hawk-eyed fans of the popular sports drama “Friday Night Lights” may recognize Levi from its final seasons, in which he starred as Darius Merriweather before pivoting towards a pursuit of music on “The X Factor USA.”
Following a brief stint in the boy band Citizen Four, Levi found his rite of passage on YouTube, where he sang covers and released independent music until he was signed to Issa Rae’s Raedio and Atlantic Records in 2021.
As evidenced by his R&B-pop leanings and his dedication to choreography, Levi is often compared to artists like Usher, Omarion, and Mario. His music tiptoes into different genres — sometimes pop, sometimes rock — but he’s still R&B to his core with successful songs like his 2022 duet with Normani “Don’t They (Remix)” and “Birthday Dance,” which, thanks to TikTok’s For You Page (FYP), it’s his biggest hit yet.
Afrobeats
Yemi Alade
The Afrobeats and Afropop scene may be dominated by men, but in her almost 15 years in the industry, Yemi Alade has solidified herself as a titan of the dance-worthy genre, taking the world by storm.
Alade broke into the mainstream airwaves in 2014 with her irresistible viral song “Johnny” and became the first African female Afropop star to achieve over 100 million views on YouTube and VEVO with its viral music video. Since then, she’s been able to create viral hit after viral hit, earning the Nigerian-born artist the title of “Mama Africa.”
When it comes to her sound, Alade’s music embodies the diversity of the continent, with songs sung in various African languages backed by traditional African sounds (including soukous, amapiano, and her personal favorites — juju and highlife) which emphasize her continued commitment to highlighting the beauty of Africa’s many cultures.
Alade’s forthcoming studio project, “Rebel Queen,” set to release later this month, promises to lean even further into her desire to create music that crosses borders.
“There are a lot of discussions about what African music, Afrobeats or Afropop should sound like,” she tells TODAY.com. “[With “Rebel Queen”], I wanted to strip everything down and go back to the core and essence of feel-good African music. It is a reflection of our different sounds across the continent, including genres such as reggae, R&B, and rock ‘n roll, due to their heavy influence on Africans across the diaspora.”
Ayra Starr
Sabi girls, stand up! Ayra Starr, the Nigerian Gen-Z darling who broke into the international spotlight with hits like “Bloody Samaritan” and “Rush,” is back with her recently released sophomore album “The Year I Turned 21.”
Like frequent collaborator Tiwa Savage (“Stamina”) and Yemi Alade before her, Starr skillfully balances the very specific nuances of Afrobeats with unabashed femininity and a bevy of global element — all while peppering in pidgin English and Yoruba into genre-bending tracks that are tinged with R&B, amapiano, and more.
When speaking to TODAY.com about the inspiration for her second album, Starr responds with a simple answer: “me.”
“It’s a coming of age album for me, coming from my debut album ‘19 & Dangerous,’ the purpose was to show through my music that I’m grown and I wanted listeners to see the world through the eyes of a 21-year-old burgeoning superstar, which happens to be me,” she says.
Asake
When Asake first made waves in the Afro music space, audiences were captivated by his unique sound, a curious combination of modern Afrobeats and vintage Yoruba fuji style, all over the distinctive rhythm of South African amapiano house music.
It was different from the popular sounds dominating the continent at the time, and cosigns from industry major players like Olamide and Burna Boy quickly led to Asake’s rise with his music, specifically his 2022 hit “Sungba” (featuring Burna Boy), becoming a staple at African weddings, rooftops, and day parties.
Even with the majority of Asake’s discography being in his native language of Yoruba, the Nigerian musician is gaining international acclaim. Most recently, Grammy-winning R&B songstress H.E.R. joined him for a vibey remix of his soulful song “Lonely at the Top.”
Gospel
Maverick City Music
In 2018, 17 songwriting camps joined forces and voices to create a safe space for musicians looking to upend the often rigid traditionalism of the Christian contemporary music and gospel scene, and thus, Maverick City Music was born.
The collective was made up of hundreds of singers, musicians, and songwriters, and together, Maverick City Music dropped its first release the following year to critical acclaim.
In an already crowded genre, the musical group made its mark with moving songs like “Jireh” and “I Thank God,” and their music quickly became a permanent staple on the set lists of worship teams from all over the globe.
Maverick City Music’s 2021 release “Old Church Basement” won both Gospel Music Association Dove Awards for new artist of the year and worship album of the year, and a Grammy for best contemporary Christian music album.
In 2023, they collaborated with gospel legend Kirk Franklin on an album called “Kingdom Book One,” and at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards later that year, the group swept every category it was nominated in, taking home a whopping four awards and tying with Beyoncé for the most awards won that single night.
Pastor Mike Jr.
After making his musical debut with “Big” and releasing a full-length album “Live Free” in 2019, Pastor Mike Jr.’s casual interest in singing evolved into a full-blown career as audiences turned to his music as a source of comfort during the stressful uncertainty of the global pandemic.
He kept the hits coming with this follow-up album, “I Got It: Single’s Ministry, Vol.,” which went on to win six Stellar Awards in 2022.
Since then, Pastor Mike Jr. has gone on to win 13 more Stellar Awards and has collaborated with some of the biggest names in gospel music, including James Fortune and Kierra Sheard.
Pastor Mike Jr., who is heavily influenced by classic gospel, is widely known as the “New King Of Urban Inspiration” because of the ingenious way he blurs the line between genres for audiences looking for a nuanced approach to experience God.
His urban gospel sound and discography echoes the heartfelt praise of gospel icons like Fred Hammond and Byron Cage, but with the more modern hip-hop trappings of Kirk Franklin, as evidenced by songs like “He Got Me” featuring Outkast’s Big Boi.
When Pastor Mike Jr. isn’t in the studio cooking up certified hits, he’s front and center at the pulpit of Rock City Church in Birmingham, Alabama every Sunday as its full-time senior pastor.
The War and Treaty
Tanya and Michael Trotter possess show-stopping vocals, but as The War and Treaty, the powerhouse duo can absolutely sing the house down.
The married couple, who made their debut as a performing pair with the studio album “Healing Tide” in 2018, are as Americana as they are gospel. In 2023, the spouses became the first Black duo to be nominated for the Country Music Association Award for duo of the year and same award for the Academy of Country Music. They were also nominated that year for best new artist at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards.
Between Tanya’s Aretha Franklin-esque vocals and Michael’s sharp bluegrass sensibilities, The War and Treaty can be described as a breath of fresh air. They’ve made waves in the country music lane, which is not surprising to Michael who says they hope to keep changing the status quo of what the country music genre looks like in the future.
“Country music is actively trying to attack the narrative it has created, and I’m proud to be part of that change,” Michael told Billboard of The War and Treaty’s approach to shifting the atmosphere of country and gospel music.
“We’ve been sort of a healing balm, and I won’t allow anyone to take that away from Tanya and I. We’ve been taken out on the road not to check a box, but literally because we’ve impacted some of the most powerful artists in our genre today.”
